The Sound Of Silence Lyrics - Simon and Garfunkel
Review The Song (33)
Hello darkness, my old friend,
I've come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
'Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence.
"Fools" said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach out you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence.
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the sign said, the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence."
I've come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
'Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence.
"Fools" said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach out you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence.
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the sign said, the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence."
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sounds of silence is about abduction | Reviewer: anonymous | 5/13/13
Think of this song with what you may know about alien abduction.To much to write ..if you dont know about it then you will never see my perspective but those that know about the phenomenon will understand quickly..read the part about the light splitting the sky,neon gods,people talk without speaking-how does the entity speak..not with its mouth...and so forth..I used to love this song until i relistened to it after my awakening..
It's about keeping silent when you know you should speak out against oppression | Reviewer: Razor | 12/5/12
The song is about keeping silent when you know you should speak out against oppression and the sudden realization that you have committed this atrocity all your life. Then, the desire to convert the world followed by cold hard the realization that you can't.
- To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men. (Abraham Lincoln)
- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. (Edmund Burke)
- In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
- If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. (George Washington)
- There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction. (John F. Kennedy)
- The truth shall make you free. (Jesus Christ)
My connection to the song | Reviewer: Joy | 8/26/12
Here darkness means seclution. The protagonist has been in the dark for far too long and understands how it can ill-effect ones life.
Hello darkness, my old friend,
I've come to talk with you again)
Now back to his normal life, he encounters a flashback to his old life through a vision.
Healso finds out that far too many people sharing the same consequences that he has faced. He attempts to make them realise through his experience ("Fools" said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach out you."
)
This song to me is an attempt to depict ones misry of the past and teach others how to encounter it through his own experience
wake up world | Reviewer: Selina | 11/26/11
I love this song. I first heard it in 1972 then I just thought it was great to listen to. Now I am looking at it from a different perspective. I get the frustration of the character who is awake and out of the box. He is so wanting the 10,000 people to wake up to what is important. To connect and be aware. To really communicate and not just be a robot following the crowd. It is a though he is alone in his awareness and he so wants others to realize their asleep. They are being tricked by the neon light and the new spiritual god. It is great to read all the different viewpoints here. Everyone seems out of the box.
Vietnam | Reviewer: Anonymous | 10/24/11
We studied this song in my public speaking class. I believe It's about the vets coming home from vietnam and how they viewed the world after what they had been through and how they were treated by others.
September 11th Memorial | Reviewer: Tim | 9/12/11
Just a spectacular and moving piece performed by Paul Simon, if you hadn't seen his performance then check on Youtube.com.
I will now and forever hold this rendition of Sound of Silence as seen, felt and interpreted slightly different than ever before.
Hello Darkness my old friend ( to revisit )
I've come to talk with you again ( 10 years later )
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping ( The people who lost loved ones, the
visions and memories are like seeds
in our minds )
And the people bowed and prayed: In Silence
mad world | Reviewer: billy | 8/24/11
Amazing song, I never really thought about exactly what the lyrics meant until I heard it recently in the film the watchmen.
At first I was did understand the song because silence in a spiritual context is good.
However the type of silence that is mentioned here is a failure to express our true nature through fear and the desire to conform.
This song kind of reminds me of Mad World except in that, the perspective is slightly different.
My thoughts | Reviewer: David | 8/22/11
Its ironic to hear people heatedly argue about the meaning of the song...
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
Art belongs as much to the listener as the writer. Paul Simon wrote something which had meaning for him. If it resonates with meaning for you (whether your interpretation is the same as Paul's or not), then that's what it means for you. A good work of art, such as this, will resonate with meaning for many people, in many ways, often in contexts not thought of by the artist (after all he doesn't have direct experience of our lives). That it succeeds in doing so proves what a great song it is.
For me the song speaks of a lack of real connection in today's shallow world; where people lose sight of what's important to follow the bright lights of materialism, each of us alone in the crowd. That's just my reading though. Yours is just as valid, if it means something to you.
D
Beautiful song | Reviewer: Anonymous | 8/13/11
I love this song. As far as interpreting it.......I think when you hear a song like this everyone interprets it in their own way and according to their life experiences........for me it is spiritual and I think of people talking but no one really listening to each other or the voice of God.......I may be way off in what it was written for or about, but to me it is so beautiful and it makes me think of others and their thoughts or feelings. A song touches you and affects people differently, you hear a song and it reminds you of a time in your life, good or bad, sometimes they really affect you and sometimes it is just a really good song, nothing more nothing less, but this song really gets in my heart!
Title | Reviewer: Name | 8/5/11
I think it means how people are brain dead people may talk about and listen but they're not really there they just follow the flow the song is about nobody having there own individuality and how people follow flashy things like neon light's till they burn out and probably follow the next thing that catches there eyes
lilly xx | Reviewer: Anonymous | 6/19/11
I love this song I remember my mum and playing it years ago and how I remember it meaning so much to my mum after an argument with my father, I feel as if this song is about whom listens in between the words, other wise in the silence, some times words make things worse. Love or hate what I think I'm going to listen to it with my kids. Now silence lol x
The gods of silence | Reviewer: Anonymous | 6/10/11
Written shortly after the assassination of JFK this sobe was most likely written as a tribute to him, "disturb the sound of silence" most likely relates to how at a funeral all are silent and nobody speaks out of respect for the dead. The neon lights and the god the created is most likely an atomic bomb, they see the power of it before and with the Cuban missle crisis and the cold war, nuclear power most easily represented as a green glow, I believe this to be the most logic analysis of this. Right or wrong its one way to look at it and it's my way.
Silence | Reviewer: Chealder | 2/1/11
So many comments over a song about the sound of silence. Why just not be silent, listen to the song and interpret it the way you want? And especially not make a fool out of others for interpretting it in different ways because they may not even be so far off...
somuchbeautyintheworld | Reviewer: Anonymous | 1/11/11
It might be - that they are simply saying how it was back then, that they are talking about freedom of speech or lack thereof...
However, i find something much deeper in this song. Something withheld in every living breathing person in the world. Something much more personal than the surface of political relations between countries. It's poetry, it's supposed to be personal. It's about people being so distanced from each other, and always even more so - the more freedom they have to come to each other. Time showed the value of this song. It's art, see it as you will, but never disregard one's interpretation. To those of you arguing with people who disagree - this song is about you. It's not the silence between people exchanging words, it's the SILENCE between souls sharing meanings that this song speaks about.
come on | Reviewer: Anonymous | 11/24/10
to: Willie | Reviewer: Anonymous | 11/14/10
My god.. Keep your nonsense to yourself if you don't know what you're talking about. It's about people, governments and countries not talking nor listening to each other. Put it in it's time, it's 1964 it's written in, and still it's true. Nothing shy. Don't spread nonsense no more!
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